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posted by martyb on Tuesday July 20 2021, @11:41AM   Printer-friendly
from the Dam-it! dept.

Drought Threatens to Close California Hydropower Plant for First Time:

A California power plant likely will shut down for the first time ever because of low water during a prolonged drought, squeezing the state's very tight electricity supplies, state officials said yesterday.

The Edward Hyatt power plant, an underground facility next to Oroville Dam in Butte County, is expected to close in August or September, said John Yarbrough, California Department of Water Resources assistant deputy director of the State Water Project. The plant has run continuously since opening in 1967. It receives water from Lake Oroville, and that reservoir has dropped because of the drought, as CNN previously reported.

[...] In addition, "high heat events in California and the rest of the West have begun earlier than usual and have exceeded historic temperature levels," the California Energy Commission and California Public Utilities Commission leaders said in a July 1 letter to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), the grid manager.

The state's power system expects to lose about 1,000 megawatts of power generation as a result. While that's a fraction of a system with daily peak demand of 44,000 MW, supplies already are tight, said Lindsay Buckley, a California Energy Commission spokesperson.

"Based on our May projections, we really didn't have 1,000 megawatts to lose," Buckley said in an interview.

[...] The loss of generation at the Hyatt plant would occur if the lake levels fall to around 630-640 feet of elevation, due to lack of water to turn the plant's hydropower turbines, said Yarbrough with the California DWR.

Lake Oroville is currently at 666 feet of elevation with 1.015 million acre-feet of water storage, which is 29% of its total capacity and 37% of its historical average. Over the last week, the reservoir has decreased from 673 to 666 feet, he said.

Hyatt is designed to produce up to 750 MW of power but typically produces between 100 and 400 MW, depending on lake levels, Buckley said. The state DWR expects the plant this year to generate about 20% of what it generated last year.

[...] Environmental laws restrict how much water can be released from the system into reservoirs. Water releases to the Feather River are required for water supply, environmental and fishery needs; for health and safety; and to prevent salinity intrusion, Yarbrough said.

Oroville–Thermalito_Complex entry on Wikipedia.


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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by DannyB on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:19PM (15 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:19PM (#1158301) Journal

    California has it's bad governance problems, and its consequences.

    Just as Texas did last winter.

    Global warming and bad governance are happening on a larger scale. And there will be larger scale consequences.

    Or do you think bad governance and its consequences happens only in California?

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    Starting Score:    1  point
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    Total Score:   4  
  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:53PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @04:53PM (#1158318)

    Giving $4B to the welfare states annually is pretty bad.

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:29PM (3 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:29PM (#1158418) Journal
      How much of that $4 billion ends up in the pockets of California businesses? I bet a lot of database and IT work ended up in the pockets of Silicon Valley, for example. The ROI on giving money to red states might not be so good these days, but that's California's fault.
      • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:45PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:45PM (#1158431)
        "Those Shelbyville kids think they're so hot, but you know what? They're not."
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @03:44PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @03:44PM (#1158750)

        lol CA loses again. I guess it cant do anything right, amirite?

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday August 01 2021, @03:21AM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday August 01 2021, @03:21AM (#1161860) Journal
          Missed this one.

          lol CA loses again. I guess it cant do anything right, amirite?

          So when is the last time California did something right with respect to what's been brought up in this thread?

  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Tuesday July 20 2021, @05:41PM (7 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @05:41PM (#1158336) Journal

    California has it's bad governance problems, and its consequences.

    Just as Texas did last winter.

    The difference are those consequences. Texas is on track to bypass California as the largest state by population in 20 years.

    Global warming and bad governance are happening on a larger scale. And there will be larger scale consequences.

    Funny how most of the consequences of global warming show up in the regions with bad governance.

    • (Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @06:04PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @06:04PM (#1158353)
      > Funny how most of the consequences of global warming show up in the regions with bad governance.

      Not that many people are willing to trust Republicans with large cities. Ask Miami residents how they feel right now.
      • (Score: 0, Troll) by khallow on Tuesday July 20 2021, @06:17PM (1 child)

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @06:17PM (#1158358) Journal

        Not that many people are willing to trust Republicans with large cities. Ask Miami residents how they feel right now.

        Ok. Miami residents, how do you feel right now?

        • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @03:46PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 21 2021, @03:46PM (#1158752)

          I want gay sex and free abortions and druuuuugs. How about you?

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday July 20 2021, @06:20PM (3 children)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @06:20PM (#1158359) Journal

      Funny how most of the consequences of global warming show up in the regions with bad governance.

      <sarcasm>
      I'm sure you won't be affected at all by any of these things that are happening. Consequences of bad governance of both blue and red states, as well as the nation, stay confined strictly within the borders of those jurisdictions.
      </sarcasm>

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:32PM (2 children)

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:32PM (#1158421) Journal

        I'm sure you won't be affected at all by any of these things that are happening.

        I'm already being affected. I'm in the lower part of the higher latitude region where global warming presently is the most pronounced.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @09:17PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @09:17PM (#1158443)

          Funny how most of the consequences of global warming show up in the regions with bad governance. ... I'm already being affected. I'm in the lower part of the higher latitude region where global warming presently is the most pronounced.

          ... ummm.... Wyoming and Montana are red states.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @05:56PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @05:56PM (#1158345)

    "Just as Texas did last winter."

    Wrong again, fucktard. The whores in gov gave the power over power generation to out of state Jews. It's the Jews. It's always the Jews.

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday July 21 2021, @09:06PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday July 21 2021, @09:06PM (#1158910) Journal

      And you wouldn't call that bad governance?

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.